Easy to assemble, or “do it yourself” (DIY) floor panels have increased in popularity for use as replacements for interior parquet floors, linoleum sheet floors, and wall-to-wall carpets. Such floor panels offer consumers durable and aesthetically pleasing products at affordable price points. In conventional systems, opposing first and second edges of a floor panel are provided with a groove and a tongue, respectively, such that adjacent floor panels can directly engage and lock together. For example, a tongue of a first floor panel can engage and lock directly with a groove of a second panel. All four edges of a conventional floor panel can lock directly with one or more adjacent panels forming joints directly therebetween.
Conventional floor panels, systems, and methods have several disadvantages rendering them unsuitable for outdoor use and are therefore, unsuitable for use in exterior floor covering applications. For example, one disadvantage of conventional floor panels, systems, and methods is that the floor panels are pulled together tight on all four sides forming substantially gap-free joints therebetween. There is no effective manner in which water from rain, melted snow, ice, or moisture and/or liquid from other outdoor weather conditions, can leave the surface of the floor panels or effectively penetrate the joint between adjacent panels. Thus, when used in an outdoor environment, water will pool on the surface of conventional floor panels which can create an undesirable surface. Large quantities of moisture and/or liquids resulting from weather or outdoor environmental conditions could also accumulate on surfaces of floor panels and cause adverse effects such as swelling and/or buckling of the floor panels. Accordingly, a need remains for devices, systems, and methods for establishing suitable floor coverings adapted for exterior or outdoor use.
One proposed method of using conventional floors panels exterior to the home (e.g., outdoors) includes installing the floor panels at a sloped angle or incline, thereby allowing water to run off the surface at an angle. This method is impractical as it would require installing floor panels over an existing outdoor structure (e.g., a wood deck) where a sloped surface is not needed. In addition, this option requires significant and costly modifications to the existing structure being covered by the floor panels. This method also presents a further challenge and is disadvantaged as outermost floor panels can be installed with a perimeter transition or end molding, which would effectively dam the water and prevent it from running off of the sloped surface. As an alternative to a floor covering, conventional wooden decks or outdoor floors can be replaced with new wood or a wood plastic composite structure. However, this option is not DIY and is expensive. To date, an effective joint device for allowing water to pass through a floor covering is lacking in the art.
Despite the availability of various devices, systems, and methods in the marketplace, a need remains for joint devices, systems, and methods for providing exterior floor coverings. A need exists for providing a joint between edges of floor panels such that water can efficiently pass therebetween for preventing pools of water from accumulating on the surface of provided floor coverings.